Wednesday, 11 October 2017

6 Tips to Teach Your Child About Cleaning

Do
you remember how decluttered and clean your apartment used to be before the children were born? Are you wondering how other parents can maintain sparkling
clean homes AND have children at the same time?It
all starts with the right mindset. Stop thinking that you can’t keep a clean
home. On the contrary, be positive and believe – your home can be just as clean
as the homes of other mums. And when you’ve adopted a positive mindset, time to
change your attitude towards your children. Stop thinking that the kids are too
young and won’t understand you when you try to teach them a thing or two about
cleaning. In fact, children as young as 2 years old can not only understand
your ‘cleaning lessons’, but they can help you with the household chores, too.Now
you know the path to success. And if you can’t come up with the appropriate
lessons to teach your children about cleaning, you can always get inspired by my list
– it’s what I taught my children about cleaning.The
age group of toddlers is hardest to teach. Since toddlers and their toys are
inseparable, the most logical thing you can teach your toddler is to put their toys away after playtime.

Put away toys

If
you manage to teach your child to put their toys away while they’re still very
young, you eliminate the risk of tripping over some of their toys. First – be
realistic – you’ll need a lot of patience to teach your child to declutter their
toys after play, especially when they are toddlers. The easiest way to teach your toddler to put their toys away is to sing a song about putting the toys away. Write a song
about putting toys away and sing it to your child each time they play with
their toys. I’ve tried this trick myself and it really works.When
children reach preschool age, you can start teaching them to help you with
household chores. Remember that it’s important to start small and work your way
up as your child grows up.

Make beds

It’s
vital to teach your preschooler to make their beds. And it’s not just because
when beds are made rooms look a lot cleaner. Making the bed will give your
child a sense of accomplishment and they’ll begin the day more motivated, too.

Set/clear tables and sort clothes

Children from 4 to 7 can set and clear tables, as well as sort clothes for laundry.
And when your child becomes 7-9 years old, they can even wash dishes and do the
laundry by themselves.Whatever
you’re trying to teach your children, bear in mind a few things:

Be specific

“Clean
your room” isn’t comprehensible for children. On the contrary, “Put your toys
in the toy basket” is. Also, avoid words like “Okay?”“and Please” – the
firmer you say it, the more likely they are to do what you ask of them.

Make cleaning fun

Children
won’t respond to “Clean up this mess right now!”, but they’ll respond to
“Whoever puts away all toys under 5 minutes will win a prize”. Don’t make
cleaning sound dull. Opt to make each cleaning activity
seem like a game. According to children’s behaviour scientists, children who
perceive cleaning as part of a game are more likely to clean up after
themselves.

Have realistic expectations

Be satisfied with ‘clean enough’. Your 4-year-old can’t sanitise everything as good as you,
and they’ll need a lot of time to finish a chore. Don’t scold them if they
didn’t clean to your standards. Instead, acknowledge what they did and
congratulate them.Good
luck!

Author bio

Sophia Evans is a
manager of a small cleaning company and in her little free time - a writer. She
loves to share her experience as a parent.

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About Me

Hello! My name is Weronika and I am a mother of three children from the South West of England. I am a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in bilingualism and autism. My husband is a Turkish Kurd and we are hoping to raise our children to be multilingual. We are a Muslim family and home educate our children. I blog about our multilingual, multicultural journey as well as home educating. I also write about my interests; crafting, cooking and all the wonderfully fun activities I do with my children.